European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 10, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 columns Anthony Lewis the stars and stripes Jackson phenomenon May help elect Bush the Romance of Jesse Jackson s candidacy is running so Strong now thai it wems ungenerous to Point to reality. Here is a Black outsider rousing voters Black and while with a message of Hope in change. Here is a candidate with Little Money running a Superb Campaign. But the reality is there. Jesse Jackson is not going to be elected president. The notion that he can be is a romantic delusion one of exp ally the same kind that has repeatedly undermined the democratic party in recent years. The Likely effect of the Jackson phenomenon will be to elect George Bush. Those arc conclusions reluctantly reached. Jesse Jackson ii an impressive human being intelligent sympathetic willing to re examine political platitudes As no other candidate is. Talking with him one experiences an Cle Ciric Energy a Quick grasp of problems. All that has nothing to do Wilh the color of his skin. But his color is an enormous plus Loo. How moving it is and How important to Sec a Black Candi Date meet and overcome the racism that lurks in virtually All of us White americans. To say thai Jackson is not going to be president invite the charge of giving Way to thai same racism. But there Are factors apart from his color that make him extremely unlikely to win factors that have not been Given much attention so far just because his Suc Cess has been so unexpected. Jackson has never held any elective office. That is not a bar to the presidency in our amazing political system. But in september and october when people Jesse pc As red Blore Mike Dukakis Gene Mason won Jie Stop romanticizing and think about someone actually running the government they will want a candidate who has held some office or run something Well a slate an army a business. Whal Jackson has run is operation push the organization working for Black economic betterment which he headed from 1971 to 1983. If he were the nominee his role in operation pus would no doubt come under intense examination. The organization has had serious financial problems and has been the subject of various government inquiries though no formal charges hive Ever been brought against it. There Are also questions about Jackson per Sonal record. Magazine articles have just begun to raise those he has not undergone he kind of scrutiny of his life and words that presid Colial candidates inevitably must suffer these Days. Jackson has done Otic especially remarkable thing in his Campaign. He has shown us that the periodic Liber Al conservative Cycle in our politics As dumped notably by Arthur Schlesinger jr., is moving again toward the Liberal Side. There is a hunger for change out there that Only Jackson has understood and lapped. But right through the cycles this is fundamentally a conservative country. I do not believe a majority of voters or anything like it is prepared for a candidate As far to the left of the american political spectrum As Jackson i that his rhetoric can awaken the Hopes of Blue col Lar workers and lift the torpor from College campuses is a Good thine. But in november the democrats will need the political enter to 1 hear liberals talking about their exhilaration at Pic Jackson candidacy their Delight at its populist character i worry. That sounds ivc the Gushy liberalism that has gotten the democratic party out of touch Wilh reality before inc reality of the need to win the Center. The greatest danger to the democrats is Aris ing Rishi now. That is the possibility perhaps the likelihood of a party splitting resentment among Jackson supporters i fac is not the nominee. Democrats have a Genius for self destruction their worst enemy is the inability to accept less than their heart s desire the inability to Compromise. In 1968 just enough resentful liberals spurned Hubert Humphrey to elect Richard Nixon. They have on their con science the invasion of Cambodia and All the other horrors of the Ninon Slakes Are High in 1988. Americans from the Broad political Center through the left arc concerned about policies of intervention in Central America co Liness with South Africa cronyism in Washington budget profligacy and inc appointment of Radical right Wing judges. A democratic split that elects George Bush would assure the continuation of i Host policies. Martin Gottlieb Jackson lumped into the Liberal political vacuum the Only Democrat generating enthusiasm is the farthest left of Ihor Icil. He started out As very much an underdog. His Campaign was seen As having Appeal to Only one group. But his support was intense and his message was Clear. He started winning primaries mainly in crowded Fields against candidates who were having difficulty finding heroes for themselves. The political observers who had written him off As top far left have started saying that he is the Only candidate who has a message people can relate to. The year is i�t2. The candidate is George Mcgovern. In the und mag ovum loses Stales. The reason is obvious the something that sen. Mcgovern touched in the primaries w As something in a portion of the relatively Small class of people who Vole in democratic primaries. Rack to i�8b Jackson who had been seen As a single race candidate Jusi As the anti War mag ovum had been seen As a single Issue candidate wins a sur prising Victory in Michigan by a very Large margin Over the Man widely expected to win the nomination. His Vole total comes to Only about 3 percent of the number of people who Are Likely to vote in m Michigan in november to Force percent Aboul 100,000 people Voied which ii about 5 percent of the 4 million who vote in an actual presid Colial election m Michigan and yet Jackson is being acclaimed for his Amaz ing ability 10 reach people. Apparently some pundits believe that if it weren t for Jesse Jackson nobody at nil would have voted in Michigan. Jackson is suddenly declared a political Genius by the normally sober Ben Wallenberg for example. Maybe. But he simply has not done Well in reaching while people. For some reason that cannot be explained when he wins 7 percent to 10 percent of the while Vole As he has in most primaries As opposed to caucuses some reporters say thai he s defy Milhe conventional Wisdom and humiliating the pundit. Can anybody produce a videotape or press clipping of anybody Ever saying that Jackson could t get 7 percent to so percent of the Whire vote does anybody remember anybody Ever saying that How does something become the conventional wis Dom if nobody Ever says it i ii not uncommon in politics for a candidate to Benefit from Low me cations. But Jesse Jackson has invented a new political phenomenon he is benefiting from retroactive Low expectations. The explicate of the supposed Jackson phenomenon declare that Jackson s White support is coming from poor people and Blue Collar voters How much you Wanna Bel Why should we reject the first possibility that comes to mind that it comes from Yuppie Artsy Campus oriented and cause Ori in cd liberals there Are three real explanations for Jackson s Early Success such As it was Black support was solid Black turnout was higher than while turnout and the Field was crowded. Now that the Field is narrowed 10 two and now hat Jackson has had six weeks of veneration by an infatuated press following months in which he was virtually ignored by the press and opponent she � gelling More than the 7 percent to 10 , Bui against an opponent whose major Appeal is a offensiveness. Dukakis s convention placards will read he s got Low the pundits did Noi underestimate Jesse Jackion. They overestimated his opponents. They assumed that somebody would emerge from Dwarf Dom with a popu Lar identifiable message. Nobody has Dukakis has apparently decided to fun As a Success Ful governor with generically democratic View. Thai looks like a Riik Frt strategy. He did t recognize the risk that he would be ignored. In Michigan where he led in the polls All the Way he was ignored More than beaten. Jesse Jackson has jumped Imo a political a. Urn. As of this writing he in t even winning. Some phenomenon. L h or to
